(Yicai Global) Feb. 6 -- Shares of Chinese companies in the healthcare sector slumped today after the country’s market regulator published an article on how corruption in the medical industry has evolved in recent years and how to spot it.

Shares in drugmaker Porton Pharma Solutions [SHE:300363] plunged 5.5 percent to CNY48.31 (USD7.13), health examination services provider Meinian Onehealth Healthcare Holdings [SHE:002044] sank 3.6 percent to CNY6.58, while medical device maker Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics [SHE:300760] fell 2.7 percent to CNY316.49 (USD46.68). The healthcare industry index compiled by Wind Information dropped 1.5 percent.

Some healthcare firms adopt complex means to bribe officials such as by secretly gifting equities, paying for training and disguising their bribes as legal behavior, according to the article entitled 'Investigating and Dealing With Covert Collusions Between Medical Staff and Drugmakers' published on the State Administration for Market Regulation’s website today.

The article discussed new developments in misconduct and corruption in the health care sector, what to look for and how to dig deep to uncover such conspiracies.

The regulator is making more effort to crack down on such acts, it said. It recently published two bribery cases on its website involving kickbacks and scientific research sponsorship.

Editor: Kim Taylor